Clothesline support



Sept. 14, 1948. F. J. HENCIR 5 3 CLOTHESLINE SUPPORT Filed March 12, 1945 Patented Sept. 14, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT LOFEFICE CCLOTHESLINE SUPPORT Frank J'.' Hencir, St." PaiaLlMinn. Application" March 12, 1945; E'Serial N0. 582 ,354

s Mywinventionl relates to an: improvement. in clothes line support wherein it is desired to provide" a clothes line which may be :easily1 strung up or taken. down.

. It'is ordinarilyl disadvantageous to leave clothes lines up during all types of weather. The clothes line becomes fdamp in wet weather; and collects dust?andrsootthereupon. This dust and soot is often transmitted to the: clean r clothes, creating awery undesirable situation. CIOthESZIiIIES aISO often become loosened-or lengthened somewhat under strain and a fixed. clothes line must accordingly be tightened somewhat from time" to time; which is rather diflicult to do when the lines are tied tightlyat the ends thereof.

. It-is lthe-object of the present invention toprovide: a clothesline-arrangement by Lmeans of which the. clothes line may .be kept in; a-c-losed container when notin use and by means of whichthe clothes linemaybe easily. put up and tightened. *Withmy clothes line arrangement'it is extremely easyv to tighten the line-and .this tightening operation may be accomplished. be-

fore the clothes are hung thereupon or afterwards if it is. so desired. .As-a result-the clothes may he placed upon the" clothes line while the lines .line may extend therefrom. and may be strung between the clothes line supports. A ratchet apparatus is provided for holding the clothes line taut when erected.

Afeature of the present invention HES-111113, simple. means of anchoring the .free end. of the line. I..provide a block having a pair .-of.;holes therethrough through which the clothes line may .be inserted to provide a loopbetween the holes.

The end of the line is threaded. between this'loop and the surface of the block:so as to; tightly anchor the end of the line.

-A further feature of the present invention-lies in the provision of a clothes line supporting structure which may be easily applied to a conventional clothes pole or the like. My clothes line support includes a pair of elongated bars which are secured in parallel relation to the cross arms ota clothes. pole of any conventional type. i These elongated arms are provided with pulleysmount edthereupo-n over which the line may. be readily threaded. The elongated strips-bearing. thepulleys -together with the clothes. line box on housing: 'for enclosing-the line when the sameis not inwuse may..-be sold as aimitoforv application to clothesr-posts whichshave. been previously erected. 5 A :feature. of. the. present: invention resides in the fact that the pulleys are supported above the stripin such away that theline maybe easily threadedrover: the same without ethe necessity on inserting the linelthrough:=numerous,.pu1ley apertureslontherlike. l l l l l An added feature l of the invention: resides :in the pulley arrangement for uid n the l n mm the 7 box. org housing. a One. of the pulleys "or-one of the elongated strips is. off-set relative to-the others to guide-the line towarda pulley mounting-upon the chess arm posts above theline housing. As a result the. line-maybe fed to the clothes line reel .from--ae.-sing1e idirection.

These and" other objects and novel featur.es...of my invention. will be. more clearly and- :fullyset forth-in the following specification and claim.

In: the drawings 5 forming: a .part et .myspecification thesfigure; illustrates-nu perspective -a pair: otclothes line'posts shaving myv clothes line supportattached-thereto,. p y

wMyr. c-l-oth-esdine support is-designed for attachmentto a conventional type of. clothes line post .having'a crossi arm mounted thereupon. The clothes line most 10 is: supported in the-ground on attached to any fixedsupport and isdesigned to extend vertically, A' cross arm I ll issecured to. the top of the post 1| 0 tc 'extend on either: side thereof. rThe-post -llland crossarm H formaeT- shapedsupport. l Arrest I2-simi1antothepost l 0 extends vertically at any desired distance from the post l0. Thepost I 21is likewise provided-with a cross; arm i 31 similar to the-cross; arm H. .The cross/arms: Il -Hand. l3 are: arranged in: substantially-parallel -relationship. l 1

ilAn'I elongated strip: 1 tie secured. to the tcp' of the crosszarm .1 l l w bynanyl suitable imeans; Isuch asr-byboltszloncapscrews l5. Thestrip I 4 rests upon the cross arm Hand is supported thereby.

Pivotal supports such a as bolts or cap screws: I6. "11,- 19; and. actto supportvclothes linefpulletls 2l,-22,23.1nand? 24, respectively. Theserpulleys or an upstanding flange on the strip I 4. The block is secured to the strip by bolts orcap screws 2'6. A pair of parallel apertures 21, and 29 are provided through the block. These apertures are substantially horizontal and are directed toward the corresponding end of the opposing cross arm I3.

A second strip 39 is secured to the cross arm 13 by any suitable means such as 7 by boltsor cap screws 3|, Bolts 'or pivots 32, 33, 34 and 35 are supported by the strip 30 and act as pivotal supports for a series of pulleys 36, 31, 39 and 49, respectively. These pulleys are freely rotatable about their substantially vertical aXes'.

An arm 4| which is off-set at 42 acts as a support for a pulley 43. The pulley 43 is provided with a substantially vertical bolt or pivot' 44 extending into or through the arm 4|. .Thus the pulley 43 is forwardly of the remaining pulleys 36, 31, 39 and 46 supported by the strip 3i, and is also somewhat below the level of these remaining pulleys.

The pulley '24 is arranged in substantially opposed relation to the pulley 43. The pulleys l9 and are in opposed relation. The pulley 22 is 'opposed'to the pulley 39. Similarly the pulley 2| is in opposed relation to the pulley 31 on the strip 30. The remaining pulley 36 on this same strip 39 is in opposed relation to the aperture 21 of the block 25.

A pulley 45 is secured by a horizontally extending bolt or pivot 46 to the post 12. Directly below the pulley 45 upon thepost I2 I provide a housing illustrated in general by the numeral 41. This housing; is arranged to enclose the clothes line when it is not in use. The housing or enclosure 41 is box-shaped and is provided with a closed bottom 49, opposed'side walls 50, and 51 secured thereto, and opposed front and rear walls 52 and 53 respectively. Thevarious side walls and the base form an open topped container or from. When the {clothes lineis taken down it is entirely enclosed within the housing and the cover 54 closes the open top of the receptacle.

A shaft 51 is supported by the side walls and 5| of the housing and may support a spool or reel if it is sodesired. A ratchetgear 59 is normally engaged by a'dog or pawl 66 to hold the reel from unwinding. A crank arm 6| provided with a gear handle 62 provides a means of rotating the shaft 51. The end of the line 56 is anchored to the shaft 51 in any suitable way such as by extending through an aperture in the shaft. It is essential that the end of the line 56 is held from rotation relative to the shaft 51.

When it is desired to erect the clothes line the cover 54 of the housing 41 is opened and the end of the line 56 is extended over the pulley 45 and subsequently over the pulleys'43, 24, 23, 40, 39, 22, 2|, 31, and36.' The end of the line is extended through the aperture 21, and then through the second aperture 29 in the opposite direction. The extreme end 63 of the line is then threaded between the loop 64 between the apertures 21 and 29 and the block 25. When a pull is exerted upon the line the loop 64 tightens, firmly locking the end 63 of the line from accidental disengagement.

After the line has been engaged over all of the various pulleys and the end 63 of the line has been locked in the manner described the line is tightened by means of the crank 6|. Obviously during the engagement of the line over the various pulleys, the dog or pawl 69 is disengaged from the ratchet so that the line may unreel therefrom. When the line is tightened, however, the

pawl 66 is again engaged with the ratchet 59 to hold the line taut.

Obviously the line may be left slack until the clothes are placed thereupon and later tightened.

. Similarly the line may be tightened in the event it should be found to sag somewhat at any time whether or not clothes are being supported thereby.

The reverse operation to that previously described enables the line to be taken down. When theend of the line hasbeen removed from its anchor the line may be wound upon the shaft 51 until it is entirely within the container 41, at which time the cover 54 may be closed. In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my clothes line support and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claim without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: V V i A clothes line support for use in combination with T-shaped clothes poles comprising a pair of relatively thin, fiat, elongated strips, means at spaced intervals securing said strips in parallel relation to the cross arms of the T-shaped poles to be reinforced thereby, spaced pulleys mounted for rotation upon said strips, means on one end of one of said strips to which the end of the line may be anchored, a downwardly extending flange on the forward edge of the otherof said strips at one end thereof, a horizontally extending flange projecting forwardly from the lower end of said downwardly extending flange, a pulley supported upon said horizontally extending flange, a pulley on the post of the T-shaped pole to which said other strip is attached, a shaft mounted on said one pole .below said pulley, a ratchet on said shaft, a pawl on said one pole adjacent said ratchet and engageable therewith to prevent rotation thereof in one direction, and a crank on said shaft for rotating the same.

FRANK J. HENCIR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 698,477 Edgerly Apr. 29, 1902 I 699,736 Woodyatt May 13, 1902 1,261,666 Wingert Apr. 2, 1918 1,281,475 Anderson Oct. 15, 1918 I 1,424,626 Dore et al Aug. 1, 1922 1,513,445 Cohrs Oct. 28, 1924 1,531,379 Cummings Mar. 31,1925 1,822,364 Moyer Sept. 8, 1931 

